Capital Eye Opener, August 15: Iowa Again a Battleground, Virginia is for GOP Super PAC Lovers and More

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TURNS TO IOWA: Seven months after Iowa kicked off the 2012 election with its caucus, the presidential campaigns returned to Iowa this week — except this time it was President Barack Obama and his opponent’s new running-mate, Rep. Paul Ryan hitting the Hawkeye State.

While the polls show Obama and Ryan’s boss Mitt Romney deadlocked in Iowa, OpenSecrets.org data shows the president has taken a sizable lead in fundraising. So far this election cycle Iowans giving donations amounting to $200 or more have contributed $538,734 to Obama’s campaign, including $191,092 from Iowa’s largest population center, the Des Moines metro area. Romney has raised less than half of that. Obama also has a sizable lead in fundraising in Iowa City — home of the University of Iowa — where Romney is being outraised by even his former primary opponent Ron Paul.

In total, Romney has raised just $346,447 from Iowans, and unlike Obama, most of his money seems to be coming from more rural zip codes and smaller Iowan cities — like Dubuque. Romney has raised a significant amount of money from the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area — which straddles the Iowa state line.

Obama’s main talking points during his Iowa swing have focused on farm and energy policy — attacking Ryan’s opposition to renewable energy programs and the Farm Bill while in Congress. The critiques are carefully tuned to catch the ear of Iowans — with agriculture such a major part of the state’s economy and wind power emerging as another growth industry.

Whether this strategy works or not remains to be seen — Republicans have attacked the president’s green energy policies, and some of the biggest players in the industry have yet to make a mark on the presidential race. The American Wind Energy Association’s PAC, for instance, has only raised $261,620 so far in 2012 and none of that has gone to presidential candidates. The Iowa Farm Bureau has also had relatively stagnant fundraising, and all of the $28,100 it has spent on elections went to state-level candidates. Agribusiness, a broad category of agricultural related industries extending well beyond Iowa, has also tended to throw most of its weight behind Republicans — giving $3.6 million to Republican candidates and only $964,644 to Democrats this cycle

VIRGINIANS‘ LOPSIDED LOVE FOR SUPER PACS: Like Iowa, polls show the fight for Virginia remains tight — but an analysis of the money shows disparity.

According to a Washington Post report, Virginians have given $3.9 million to Republican super PACs and just $76,000 to Democratic groups so far this cycle. That gives Republican super PACs a nearly 50-to-1 advantage, whereas nationally their advantage over Democratic super PACs is more like three-to-one.

Interestingly, the trend doesn’t carry over to campaign fundraising. The Post cites Center for Responsive Politics data showing the Romney and Obama campaigns have raised almost identical amounts in Virginia — $4.5 million for Romney and $4.2 million for Obama. In the hard-fought Senate race Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine have also remained relatively close in terms of fundraising, though Kaine actually holds an advantage, having raised $10.3 million to Allen’s $8.1 million.

OBAMA HOLDS 200TH FUNDRAISER: Obama Holds 200th Fundraiser: This past weekend President Barack Obama made history, although probably not in a way he expected.

On Sunday Obama attended the 200th fundraising event of his reelection campaign, the most of any presidential candidate in history. A Mother Jonesreport Monday revealed Obama has now held 203 fundraisers since launching his bid for a second term in April 2011. That works out to one fundraiser every 60 hours.

The reliably-blue state of California has yielded the most campaign cash for Obama so far — about $26.8 million in donations more than $200 through the end of June. That’s enough to account for $1 of every $5 large-dollar donations Obama has raised. The president has not been shy about reaching out to Hollywood in particular, hosting high-profile fundraising contests that feature A-listers such as George Clooney and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Obama’s No. 2 source of campaign cash is New York, where residents have given large-dollar donations to the tune of about $17 million. Illinois is next on the list, where the president has tapped home state sympathizers for campaign cash amounting to more than $8.9 million. And Massachusetts, where individuals in the Bay State have contributed about $7.9 million to help re-elect the president — despite the state’s status as home turf for Obama’s rival, Mitt Romney.

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